"Community" fans got one bit of good news today, but it wasn't THE good news we've all been hoping for, which is NBC announcing a return date for the show. And as long as "Community" and its fans remain in limbo, I'm going to mark every Thursday at 8 with a different clip exemplifying just why it is that I love and miss it.

For the second time in about a month, NBC has decided to make the entire pilot episode for one of its new dramas available through non-traditional means weeks in advance of its broadcast debut. In mid-January, it was "Smash." Now, it's "Awake," which won't air on NBC until Thursday, March 1 at 10 p.m., but is up on NBC.com, Hulu (as embedded below) and at least some cable On Demand systems. (Though it is not, as of this writing, up on iTunes the way the "Smash" pilot was.)

I'll have the latest installment in my Why I Miss "Community"series up tonight at 8 (hint: there's a song involved), but while we still wait for news on when and where the Greendale gang will be making their return to NBC, I have a bit of news about one of the episodes we will eventually get to see, someday, somewhere.

As first reported by Vulture's Joe Adalian, the show has cast Giancarlo Esposito— aka Gustavo "The Chicken Man" Fring from the last few seasons of "Breaking Bad" — in an upcoming episode.

The show is, understandably, trying to keep details tight about the story Esposito is involved in, but I can tell you that he plays Gilbert, a long-time employee of Pierce's late, very racist father Cornelius Hawthorne, and that he presents Pierce and the rest of the study group with a challenge related to Cornelius' inheritance.

Esposito (who's also made some guest appearances this year on "Once Upon a Time") joins a very interesting guest star roster this season that's already featured Michael Kenneth Williams, John Goodman and (as himself) Luis Guzman.

Just to try something slightly different, I'm splitting the morning round-up into a couple of posts today by genre: a couple of cop dramas in a bit, and quick reviews of "Suburgatory" and "Happy Endings" coming up just as soon as I call for an across-the-board chillaxing while wearing an indoor scarf...